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This site is the inspiration of a former reporter/photographer for one of New England's largest daily newspapers and for various magazines. The intent is to direct readers to interesting political articles, and we urge you to visit the source sites. Any comments may be noted on site or directed to KarisChaf at gmail.

Monday, February 24, 2014

President Obama appears willing to put off a decision on the Keystone
XL oil pipeline at least until the midterm elections have passed, and a
Nebraska judge now has given him the ability to do that.

Analysts
say a court ruling last week — invalidating the pipeline's route
through Nebraska and essentially putting the entire project on hold for
the foreseeable future — means an ultimate decision on Keystone could be
delayed another year or longer. The pipeline has been under study for
more than five years, the entirety of Mr. Obama's time in office.

Before last week's ruling, the president was expected to make his decision this spring or early summer.

At
the federal level, the State Department has concluded that the $7
billion project, which would transport more than 800,000 barrels of oil
each day from Alberta through the U.S. heartland en route to refineries
on the Gulf Coast, won't have a measurable impact on greenhouse gas
emissions, but the department still must determine whether the pipeline
is in the overall "national interest" before the president renders a
final decision.

Because Keystone no longer has a legal route
through the Cornhusker state, making that determination will be more
difficult, said Brian Heslin, a lawyer with the Charlotte, N.C.-based
firm Moore & Van Allen, which specializes in energy regulations and pipelines.

"Given
that this pipeline is not going to circumvent Nebraska on the way down
to the Gulf, there could be an argument that it's difficult to assess
whether this is in the national interest because you don't have the full
path of the pipeline through the various states," Mr. Heslin said. "If
you were motivated to do so, you could make an argument, pending the
approval decision and designated pathway [in Nebraska], the State
Department is not in a position to determine if it's in the national
interest."

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